Second Chances
by Illuviar
Summary: This story is set at the start of Mass Effect 2. After dieing at the Citadel, at the end of ME 3, commander Tia Shepard becomes the espada Tia Harrbiel and later, after meeting her end at the hands of Aizen at the False Karakura town,she receives a second chance to stop the Reapers and save her lover Liara. AU story! Shepard(F)/Liara pairing. Constructive criticism please!
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and Mass Effect! They belong to their respective owners.**

**Part 1. Third time is the charm**

She was dieing again. And once again, by the hand of a man she worked for. Of course there were few minor differences. This time she was cut down by Aizen's soul cutter. It bloody hurt. Well at least this time there was a reasonable chance to avoid the apocalypse. That Kurosaki kid still had a chance, and even if he failed there was no guarantee that Aizen would be able to defeat the so called Spirit King. Or was it Soul King. She winced in pain. The blood loss and pain were making it hard to think. Not that it maters. In both her lives she had seen more than enough wounds to know that she was already dead. No amount of instant regeneration or medigell (if it would have worked on an espada) would be able to save her. The only surprise was that somehow she was still conscious. Score one for arancar resilience! Destroyed spine, sliced right lung and collapsed left, with most of her internal organs liquified and her ribcage shattered. Ironically it was somewhat similar to the first time she died. Suffocating was covered, massive trauma too. Just being cooked by falling into a planets atmosphere and being turned into pancake by the impact was missing. At least this time she was able to put a token fight. It was better than watching helpless how a traitorous bastard controlled her hand and forced her to shoot her mentor.

She lied still, her last heartbeats heavy with the bitter taste of failure. She had three lives, three chances and in the end it was all for nothing. She couldn't protect her little sister an Mindoir all those millenia ago. Despite the all the awards and publicity, her stand at Elisiym, was again too little to late. At least from her point of view. All the civilians she gathered for the last ditch defense had died. It got worse of course! The fiasco at Eden Prime, being forced to kill the mother of the woman she was failing in love with at Noviera. The death of Kaidan Alenko at Virmire. And her "Crowning" achievement , the battle for the Citadel, where because of her decision thousands of humans died. It got much worse after that. The Collectors. Even now she wasn't sure should she hate or pity them. After her first death and resurrection at the hands of Cerberus, it looked like as if every decision she made was stained with the blood of the innocents. From the moment of her awakening and the slaughter of the personal of project Lazarus, to the desperate fight of the combined fleet in a doomed attempt to retake Earth and secure the Citadel. In the end her hands were stained with the blood of millions and for what!? It ended with three bullets shot by an indoctrinated traitor. Jack bloody Harper. She never really knew if he was truly indoctrinated or just a power hungry madman at the end. Not that there was practical difference. The last chance of the galaxy was wasted. It was her fault. She wasn't strong enough, was not good enough to make a difference when it mattered the most. And now as the thierca espada she was unable to save her fraction, the only precious people she had left.

One last breath. It was almost over. She was ready. In the end she prayed for peace. She had done enough, sacrificed everything and had noting else to final heartbeat, Tia Harribel, once known to the galaxy at large as Tia Shepard, the first human Spectre, died for the third time.

** Part 2. A bit of peace,and time to choose**

Tia did receive a bit of peace. She floated, enveloped by warm, comforting void for what felt like ages. No worries or regrets. No more nightmares about lost friends and comrades. Neither searing images of burning Earth and Palaven, and the fall of Thessia. The first restfull slumber she had in thousand of years. She rested outof time, out of mind.

Yet it did not was awoken by soft sunlight, bathing her exposed skin. With soft moan she stretched her long dormant muscles and slowly opened her eyes. She was laying in a sinfully comfortable bed in what looked suspiciously like Liara's, bedroom in her apartment in Illium. It had to be a had to be. Shepard stood up with a start looking around. This was her lovers home, all right. Minus any traces of the assassination attempt by an agents of the Shadow Broker. Tia remembered with barely restrained emotion , the day when she first visited this place. It was the same day she was informed by a fellow Spectre, one Tela Vasir, that her lover was killed by agents of the damned Shadow broker. The fact that, sweet little Liara had managed to decimate more than a platoon of his mercenaries, was a little comfort for Tia. She had been nearing a breakdown at the time. By all rights she should have broken. Being resurrected and thrown into the fire again and again, should have been more than she could endure. To an outside observer she did her job, becoming cold efficient killer, doing whatever was needed to get the job done.

On the inside however, she was a mess. She threw herself against her enemies with ruthless determination , seeking oblivion. Needles to say, none of her enemies were up to the task. And the rest is history. Or so she thought.

''She is alive right now, you know." said a melodic female voice.

Tia whirled around, faster than human eye can follow, crouching in combat stance, ready to pounce on the intruder. Just to be frozen in a biotic stasis field. It was a déjà vu, because she stood face to face with Benezia, Liara's mom, and again she was being incapacitated. A much healthier looking assari matriarch smiled gently at her.

"Calm down, child I won't hurt you." With a subtle motion of her hand the biotic field dissipated and Shepard fell on her backside with indignant "Oww!".

"You are wrong, dear. Shepard, you did more than anyone could have asked from you. You did the impossible, again and again."

Still siting on the floor, Tia sniffed. "It wasn't enough! Everyone died!"

"Not, yet they aren't. My little wing is right now at her office, trying to be a big bad information broker. Earth, Thessia and Palaven are still intact."

Shepard eyes widened. "You mean.." she trailed off, her mind spinning, her heartbeat deafening. It finally registered what the blue woman was speaking , Anderson, almost everybody was alive. And she couldn't sense any trace of deception.

"You have a choice to can pass onto oblivion. Or..."t he matriarch left the offer unfinished, simply smiling fondly at the human woman in front of her.

"A second chance?" Shepard asked quietly. Part of her wanted nothing more than an opportunity to hold Liara in her arms once again and never let go, no mater the price. But truth to be told she was tired of conflict, sick of deciding who should live and die. 'Ahh, Liara... my blue angel...' In the end it was the easiest decision she ever made . She choose Liara.

It was as if a switch was pushed. Benezia smiled. Her silent prayers were answered. The wounded woman, hoping for oblivion was gone. In front of the matriarch stood a "living" legend, one of the deadliest beings this galaxy has ever seen, the Reapers included.

"Tia Harribel Shepard. A war hero! Spectre! Espada!" Benezia's voice thundered with power, not her own. Tia could sense that the assari was a conduit for the raw energy, power so vast making her considerable spiritual power pale in comparison, like a single candle before the rays of the sun at high noon. All she knew was an immense sense of warmth and acceptance before a torrent of energy slammed into her and she knew no more.

**Part 3. No rest for the wicked**

Her slumber was interrupted by the voice of matriarch Benezia. "Rise and shine, dear! Rise and shine!" Shepard shuddered. There was something just wrong in the way the elder assari was speaking to her like she was a little girl. For a really brief moment she entertained the hope that everything that happened to her was just a really nasty and vivid nightmare. She opened her eyes and looked around. No joy. Vague familiar med bay. Check. Bloody loud alarms, check. The really irritating cerberus bitch, a.k.a. Miranda Lawson, droning on the intercom, yeah you guessed it - check again.

" Couple of point before I leave you to your new life, Shepard." Benezia's tone brook no argument." You are now a human/arancar hybrid, stuck in your physical body so take care! And no, you can't hunt down Timmy, before cleaning the mess with the collectors permanently!"

That earned the matriarch an indignant pout. "Can't I blow him up just a little? Just one teeny cero? Please?" Shepards attempt to sway Benezia with the ancient "puppy eyes" technique which unfortunately was neutralized by her bloodthirsty smile.

"Nope." Benezia deadpaned. "Don't forget your new sword. Its a bit different. You cant drown reapers after all. And DO NOT get my daughter killed!" the last sentence was screamed with enough force to make Tia fall from the examination table and almost deafen her.

"Damn!And I thought Liara was a screamer!"

"Shepard!Get up!" this time the banshee screech came from Miranda.

'Damn cerbeus' thought Tia.

She got up and went to a nearby storage locker,where if her memory served her right was an N7 armor and a pistol. Over the locker was a plain katana, sheathed in some kind of metallic scabbard with magnetic clamps.

After donning the armor and avoiding a exploding container, (seriously what was that thing doing in a med bay?!) , she left the room only to be shot by a Loki mech. Its bullets passed straight through her shields, hitting her in the 's armor was now bearer of four brand new holes. It hurt a lot, however she was relived to see that the armor combined with her hierro were able to stop them from piercing her skin. 'Note to self - don't get shot with AP ammo'. She really wasn't sure if her hierro would be able to stop such rounds. Add the little fact that she didn't know how much punishment her body could take now, and she obviously would have to be careful.

Meanwhile, the mech was continuing to shoot at her cover. 'Lets see... Shoot it, cut it to pieces or...' Tia leaned out of cover and pointed her index finger at the automaton.

"Bala" she whispered and yellow beam of energy shot from her finger and obliterated the mech. Oh, how she loved explosion. This was her least powerful bala after all! Smiling wolfishly she stalked forward blowing all mechs in front of her, while trying to remember if there was something valuable between her and Jakob. 'Ah,yes a safe in a room with couple of malfunctioning mechs.'

A grenade launcher and few more scrapped automatons later, she found Jacob Taylor, trading gunfire with a little horde of the pesky Lokis. She was getting irritated. 'Yeah, that should work' she thought. With a wave of her hand a cero was send across the chasm dividing them from the robots. The explosion obliterated the platform on the other side and left Jacob speechless as an added bonus. She really didn't want to explain right now. Not that anyone would have believed her if she told the truth, even if she had any proof beside her abilities.

"Shepard! What the hell was that!" Taylor screamed at her after gathering his wits.

"Umm, a very well aimed grenade?" was her sheepish reply, while she waved to the grenade launcher strapped to her back. 'Lets not freak him out too much. Hes one of the good guys after all.'

" That wasn't ..." Tia interrupted him, "Lets get out of this dead trap. Explanations can wait.''

Taylor nodded still a bit rattled. From here on events proceeded more or less as she remembered them. Well, if you exclude two awed cerberus operatives and bunch of easily scrapped mechs. Espada 1 Robots 0.

Unfortunately, she didn't remember on time that Willson was the traitor and Miranda shot him again. Tia grumbled but let it go. As far as she remembered, the whole point of Willson's little treachery was her in a coffin. Permanently.

Shepard shook her head and started cursing quietly. A shuttle ride with the cerberus premier cheerleader, lots of awkward questions and first meeting with Timmy. Oh boy, this was not going to be fun. Although, she mussed ...' Hmm, yeah might have fun this time'. Her cheerful grin made Miranda cringe.

Miranda Lawson was begging to regret not installing control chip in Shepard's head, and the woman was awake for less than half hour!

AN: Please review! Constructive criticism will be appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

** Freedom's Progress **

** Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and Mass Effect!**

** Part 1. Of shuttle rides and Illusive men**

'Hmm. Another shuttle ride, one Jacob Taylor, ready to start drooling, and everybody favorite nosy Cerberus cheerleader. This will be entertaining.' Shepard smiled innocently to the woman siting in front of her. "You were, Miranda , right?" she asked feinting ignorance and hoping that her acting skills somehow survived her multiple deaths. The Cerberus operative gave her magnificent, obviously fake smile. " Yes I'm Miranda Lawson.." "Cerberus second in command" finished Tia and was awarded with the priceless sight of miss Ice queen losing her composure for a moment. Then she glared at Jacob who raised his hands in surrender "Don't look at me! I didn't tell her anything!" he tried to defend himself.

"Well, the logos painted everywhere were a dead giveaway ,on who's station we were. As for the rest you wouldn't believe what information lay around in unsecured terminals and datapads!" exclaimed Shepard coming to the rescue. "Its the chief of security fault that so much sensitive information was juts laying around" she added, just to see Taylor cringing. 'Oops. I guess he was the chief of security in the station. Another note to self - next time Im send to redo the past I'll have to ask for refresher course to familiarize myself with all the facts.' For the espada those events were so long ago that she had forgotten almost all details. At least Miranda was glaring daggers at Jacob, she had apparently forgotten Shepard for the moment. Tia got a lucky for the moment, because after stopping her attempts to kill Jakob with an evil look ,Lawson just asked Tia few generic questions, the answers to which she better, after being asked who was the human councilor, Shepard had an inspiration. Cerberus was in for a rude awakening.

While they were traveling to another Cerberus facility, the spectre was sending silent thanks to whatever guardian angel was looking out for her. After all it was a miracle, that Miranda and haven't gotten on her case, about the usage of Cero and balas. She wondered if it could be explained as "advanced biotics" for the moment. Only one tiny problem with that plan though - she wasn't a biotic, at least before that little accident with the damned collector cruiser. With a bit of luck, she might be able to keep her abilities from Timmy, until she got her hands on the new Normandy. Then thing would become really interesting.

** Timeskip **

They arrived without accident. After a short pit stop at the armory, where Sheprad decked herself into a suit of Kestel armor, she proceeded to the comm was time for a chat with Timmy. To say that Tia was a little nevous about the meeting would be the understatement of the century. She really did not know if she would be able to keep her cool when speaking with the smug bastard. Well, no time like the present. She took a moment to steel herself and entered a small round room. Tia stepped into the holotank and a heartbeat later was enveloped by orange light. A moment later she was standing face to face with the holographic projection of Jack Harper. Yup, the same arrogant sob she remembered. She took a deep breath and slipped into her full espada mode. Her voice was cold and emotionless , her face a iron, expressionless mask. "You are the leader of Cerberus." she declared in a indifferent tone.

"Commander Shepard" he said.

" You did not bring me back without a very good reason."

He looked at her for a moment, took a drag of his cigar and answered : "You need to put your feelings aside. Humanity is against one of the greatest treats of our brief existence." "The reapers" she deadpanned. Oh, how she hated those overgrown squids.

"Good to see your memory is still intact. How are you feeling?"

"Rather well for a dead woman." was her curt reply.

Timmy standed up and continued speaking : "We are at war. Not one wants to admit it ,but humanity is under attack."

Behind her iron mask, Tia cringed. It was a long time since she was a human. Her current situation, an amalgamation of human, arankar and cybernetics made for a confusing existence. At least thanks to her hollow side it appeared that she was able to keep her feeling under control. If it wasn't for that small blessing ,she would have probably went insane in the short time after her latest revival. You simply don't go through all the horrors she survived, without deep scars. In hindsight , most hollows were rather emotionless for a reason. It helped keep them from total insanity.

Her new employer continued his speech about the missing colonies. She vaguely remembered the conversation from the last time. Independent human colonies in the Terminus systems, vanishing without a trace. All conveniently ignored by the Council and the Alliance, which if memory served her right, was still rebuilding its fleets.

"Let me guess." she murmured quietly. " Another colony is gotten dark and you want me to investigate. If you are right about the reapers being involved ,just point me in the right direction. "

"Miranda though you'll be hesitant. She isn't usually wrong. I have a shuttle ready to take you to Freedom's Progress, the latest colony to be abducted. Miranda and Jacob will brief you."

"I'll get it done." she said.

"I brought you back, it's up for you to do the rest."

Shepard smirked inwardly. ' Nope, not this time'.

That went rather well. Jacob, obviously kept his mount shut when her abilities were concerned. Now she hoped that the mission will be done, before Cerberus units retake the Lazarus facility and send Timmy security videos of her hollow abilities. She was reasonably sure that she could handle the security forces on the station and capture the Normandy if it all went FUBAR, but that would meant endangering Joker and doctor Chakwas needlessly. She believed that they were already on the facility. So the plan for now was to go to the colony, secure it the old-fashioned way (with guns blazing and lots of explosions,if she had any say in how the mission would proceed; Considering her love of all things explosive he once again wondered how as a arancar she ended with control over water. It was mind boggling. ) .

Another trip to the armory was in order. No joy. Only standard weaponry, she pouted while grabing an Avenger AR, and a Mantis sniper. She chose not to carry a shotgun. She had her sword for close combat. Plus her not inconsiderable strength. Hell, now she probably was able to kick krogan ass with impunity. That thought was accompanied by a vicious smile . The next krogan who decided to charge her was in for a nasty surprise.

Shepard exited the armory, and went to retrieve her new sidekicks. Time for yet another boring shuttle flight. This time she decided to sleep through the briefing.

** Part 2. Of paranoid quarians and irritated mechs**

After reading the Riot act to her new minions on the way down, Tia felt strangely refreshed. Her short nap did wonders. Or perhaps it was scaring Miranda shitless. Ahh, the wonders of channeling her old DI( drill instructor), backed up with a spike of killing intent and spiced up with a bit of spiritual power. Shepard stilled smugly. She was quite sure that Miranda and Jacob would follow orders and wont give her any shit while on the surface. And seeing Miranda Lawson, of her high horse, was priceless.

They disembarked, weapons drawn and sweeping the landing pad for hostiles. As expected the place was quiet as a graveyard. No hostiles in sight. The colony looked was built with standard prefabricated houses. Blocky, stackable, and ugly. Hell, Garrius looked better after taking a rocket to the face!

Shepard moved on point, looking for anything out-of-place. The first building they entered was void of life. Taylor said what they all were thinking : "It looks like every just left in the middle of dinner!" It was a bit disconcerting. Just like those old horror movies, which Tia used to enjoy.

Next was an open loading area, full of crates and parts of heavy machinery. No sight of battle or the colonists. On the bright side , Shepard retrieved a bit of salvage. Her compulsion to salvage everything in sight, which wasn't nailed to the ground, was back in full power.

'No hostiles, evidence or colonists so far. It was booing.' the spectre thought. Then she winced. It was NOT wise to taunt mr Murphy! natural the bastard was listening. Just as the team exited the loading area trough massive double doors ,they walked into an improvised ambush. Across a chasm, on a terrace of another prefab home were siting tree Loki mechs. To make things more interesting, on their right were couple more of these, on a higher ground. It was worse, naturally! She heard the sounds of at least couple of Fenris mechs activating. The little buggers, resembled dogs and had the disturbing tendency to blow up when critically damaged.

"Take cover!" Shepard commanded, while taking out her sniper and lining up a shot. Her index finger softly curled around the trigger and she fired decapitating an offending Loki. Jacob used a biotic pull to levitate another mech across the low wall it was using for cover and dropped it in the chasm. Miranda caved the torso of the third with a warp, eliminating the last enemy on that flank. That left two more Lokis, which were laying suppressing fire for the charging trio of robotic dogs.

Shepard folded the Mantis and returned it to the magnetic clamps on her back. Then, when the Fenris were couple of meters away, she drew her sword in a fluid motion and struck like an angry viper. Her katana sliced trough the automatons without any resistance, like a hot knife through butter. Tree lightning strikes and the machines were turned into scrap metal. While dealing with the "dogs", she had drawn her Predator pistol, and when she finished the last Fenris , Tia shot the Loki on the left tearing it apart. Meanwhile her teammates took down the last one.

"Those are the colony's security mechs. Someone must have reprogrammed them to attack on sight."

Miranda nodded absent-mindedly looking at Shepard's sword. It looked like one of the close combat weapons for the Nemesis program. Lawson once again wondered how, the spectre was able to get her hands on one on the Lazarus station. For a moment she almost asked , but thought better. She decided that discretion was the better part of valour. There was something about the woman who she had resurrected that unnerved her. Like she was an apex predator, who you should not irritate. Miranda suppressed a shudder remembering the dressing down the two Cerberus operatives had received on the way down. Shepard had made abundantly clear who was in charge. For a moment the spectre was exhibiting an incredible murderous aura, it was simply put unreal. Miranda had thought that Shepard's mere presence was enough to cause her death. Oh, how she regretted not going behind the Illusive's man back and installing a control chip in Shepard's head!

Next building was a dormitory, complete with a safe which Shepard cut open with her soul cutter. 'No need for safe cracking anymore!' she grinned. Before leaving the building and running into couple of mechs, she swiped a pack of medigel from a medpack placed on nearby table. With the automatons taken out by massed automatic fire, the trio moved to the next building, where Shepard was in for a surprise. A quartet of quarians were bunched together looking over a holographic map of the colony. Tree males who had a military bearing, probably Migrant fleet marines and oddly familiar female. The two groups looked at each other for a moment. Just long enough for the Cerberus logo on Miranda and Jacobs armors to register with the aliens, and pandemonium insured. Everyone except Tia and the female quarian had drawn a weapon. Score one for Cerberus stellar reputation. The spectre wondered if Timmy has managed to piss off the quarrians lately. Oh, who was she kidding? Of course he had. Cerberus made "friends", everywhere their agents went.

It was a good thing, Tia had decided to wear only a targeting visor instead of a helmet on this deployment. Even better, there were no Cerberus logos on her equipment. The reason for this being a fortunate turn of events was the reaction of the female quarrian. She squealed in shock : "Wait! Shepard!"

Tia grinned sheepishly. How could she forget!? Tali Zorah, all grown up!

One of the quarrian marines growled :"Im not taking any chances with Cerberus officers!"

Got to love armed standoffs. If one of those imbeciles started a firefight and hurt Tali, Shepard was going to eviscerate them.

"Stand down! Lower your weapons!" Tali commanded. The marnies looked unsure for a second but complied.

"Shepard is that really..." Tali trailed off.

Tia smiled fondly at her friend. " I hope that geth data helped with your pilgrimage."

The tension drained from the female quarrian lithe frame. She turned towards the leader of the marines and ordered them to put their weapons away. The leader of the marines cursed but did as he was told and folded his shotgun, placing it at a hardpoint on his back.

"Why would your old commander work for Cerberus?!" he exclaimed. " You told us she hated them" . Tali's shoulders slumped a bit and she looked at Shepard. Tia could almost imagine her looking like a lost puppy behind her purple helmet. Just as the kid she saved from Fists men ages ago. Or was it just couple of years? Fuck, at this rate she was guaranteed to make serious mistakes.

Tia shook her head and looked at Tali. "I'm not with them! Unfortunately they are the only ones willing to look at the abducted colonies! "

Prazza trew his two cents as well "Tally, you can't seriously consider trusting Cerberus!" , he exclaimed.

"Dont worry I'm not trusting them either!" Sheppard added with mischievous grin. Under her helmet Tali smiled as well. She knew that smile very well. Cerberus has bitten more than they can handle. 'Time to defuse the situation' she thought. "I'm not trusting anyone!" Tally snapped at Prazza. "But well need help to search the colony. One of our people was here on pilgrimage. His name was Veetor. We came to find him."

'Ah , now she remembered.' Dellirius quarrian with army of mechs and in possession on evidence implicating the collectors in the abductions. When she thought about mechs a she winced. Now she remembered. That imbecile Prazza went ahead with his squad and got squashed by a heavy mech. 'Hmm how to fix that mess... Well, I have two problems - with my Cerberus minions around, I can't use my hollow powers, and I need to forestall Prazzas idiotic charge. What was that saying about couple of problems fixing each other?'

While Shepard was deep in thought, Jacob asked why they thought that Veetor was still alive. The answer caused Taylor to theatrically facepalm, while Tali shifted nervously. Riight. Sick, paranoid quarrian who apparently was a bit strang at best of times. Oh, joy.

Tia smiled sweetly at the quarrians. " obviously, with the notable exception of Tali, I don't trust you. And you wont trust Cerberus as far as you can trow a dreadnought." Empathic noting ensured. " I'm guessing that you have at least one more fire team, right?" she asked Tali. The quarian woman nodded and pointed to the door behind her.

Shepard's smile grew brighter. " That is what well do. My faithful minions" - she waved at Jacob and Miranda , "will go with your other team. The five of us... " - she pointed to Tali and Prazzas squad, "... will take the alternative route. Just to make sure that no backstabbing happens during this little exercise. " Before Miranda could protest, Shepard released a bit of killer intent at the Cerberus operative shutting her up. " I am in charge!" she growled , making a decent imitation of angry krogan. "Move ! We don't have whole day!"

When Miranda and Jacob practically jumped at the opportunity to escape Shepard's ire, Tali giggled. 'Yes ! Shepard is really back!' she thought.

Few minutes later, after puting decent distance between ,themselves and the Cerberus operatives, Shepard whispered to Tali: " After we save your friend I can use your help. "

" Shepard ,Id love to come with you , but I have responsibilities to the flotilla. After we find Veetor I have an important mission." Tali looked at Shepard and gulped. She knew that expression too!

" Investigating dark matter activity on Haelstorm, right? " that tidbit of information brought their procession to an abrupt halt.

"How!?" Tali screeched. " Well, the Illusive man has his fingers in many pies." It hindsight probably it was even true, that Cerberus had info on the mission even this early.

Praza glared at her , cursing quietly. " Tali, please wait a bit. I need to recruit few people and then I intent do screw Cerberus. Ill even help with Haelstorm. I have the feeling that it will be crawling with Geth." Tali tilted her helmeted head to the left and looked inquisitively at Shepard for a full minute. Then she shrugged an asked cheerfully : "What do you have in mind?" Tia smiled, looking like a big bipedal cat, who just has eaten a canary. " Here is what well do... " she whispered conspirativly.

The short planning session dubbed "How to ruin Timmy's day" ,was concluded and they continued to advance towards Veetor's last known position. Taking out the mech turned out to be a child's play, between Tali's hacking and the overloads deployed by the marines. Tia got to shoot only a single Loki. On the bright side, she was able to "liberate" nearly thirty thousand credits from various safes, datapads and salvage. Soon her quarian team was in sight of the warehouse, where Veetor was hiding . Yeah, that one with a nice open killing ground in front and two heavy mechs. Decision,decisions. Charge the mechs and probably lose quarias and needlessly endanger Tali, or... Tia clicked her radio. "Miranda ,where is your group?" " We are two minutes out" came the curt reply. Splendid!

Shepard turned to Tali and her group and pledged "I'm about to use some "advanced biotics" on the mechs. Please don't mention it to my minions and keep it out of any after action reports for couple of weeks. It well make our plans for Cerberus easier." She received reluctant nods from Prazza and his men. "Thanks".

What followed was a sighn which in the months and years to come would inspire awe and wonder, not to mention terror, among the various inhabitants of the galaxy. She strode boldly towards the mechs, pointed her index fingers at them , and to the surprise of her small audience, balls of yellow energy gathered at her fingertips. Shepard's quiet word was forever engraved in their minds. "Cero" Twin beams of energy shot from her fingertips and engulfed the unfolding robots. Two massive explosions later and it was over.

Shepard looked at the quarrians and thought that she should sweatdrop. They were frozen. Most likely with jaws hanging open. " Tali, Prazza?" Tia asked meekly. Nope, no one was home. She groaned and thought 'Damn, I broke them.'

Her Cerberus minions choose that moment to appear, with their quarrian escort it tow. Jacob looked at the smoking craters, then at Shepard and shook his head "I don't want to know. Bloody pyromania" he added quietly.

Couple of minutes later, when her quarians got out of their stupor , the mission was promptly completed. They found Veetor passed out. After a bit of aggressive negotiations, Shepard decided to take off his omni tool and leave the boy with Tali and her crew. One glare was enouh to shut down Mirandas protests.

** Part 3. Enter The Normandy MK 2**

After a mercifully short debriefing with Timmy and "agreeing " to work with Cerberus, she was reintroduced to Joker. Hi limped behind her "Hey commander! Just like the old times, huh? "

"Good to see you again! " she exclaimed.

"Look who is talking! I saw you get spaced!"

She smiled "I got lucky." and thought ' And depending on the point of view, with even more strings attached."

They walked to the docking bay , while the lieutenant reminded her how everything few apart after her death. Lets not forget the covet up made by the council. Oh, she had plans for them all right !

The new Normandy was as awe inspiring as the first time she saw her. She was a beautifull ship. Her ship. And lets not forget EDI. The crew reactions, after her unshackling, will be hilarious. First things, first. Introduction to the crew, checking the Cerberus staff on the vessel, saying hi to the doctor and heading for Omega to bail out Garrius's scally ass.

It was just as she remembered. From the Joker giddiness caused by his "PRECIOUS" leather seats, Gabby's and Ken's friendly banter, chief Granger's so-called meals,which could be used as WMDs in a pinch, to the reunion with doctor Chackwas (note to self - get her a case of Serice Ice brandy) and finally, EDI's developing personality and sense of humor.

Tia set course for Omega and went to her cabin to take a shower, and catch a bit of shuteye. After disembarking from the elevator she looked around her quarters. They were the same. Mostly. Here ship collection was nonexistent, the large fish tank was empty and most importantly her space hamster was still in the bloody shop on the Citadel. Change of plans. Save Garrius, fuck up Cerberus and rescue her hamster. Who said that she didn't have her priorities straight ?

AN: In the next chapters I will go in-depth about the weapon systems that will be used in this story. It is a bit different than ME 2 and 3 . While thermal clips do exists, most weapons (except some snipers a heavy weaponry) can shoot dozens or even hundreds of shots before overheating. Thermal clips when a viable can be used as a replacement heat sink, allowing to bypass the longer period needed for cooldown when compared to ME 1 . In the events preceeding the Reaper invasion, the various firearms would have a solid advantage compared to the available defences. For the time being the weapon technology has outpaced its defensive counterparts. 


	3. Chapter 3

** A visit to Omega**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and Mass Effect**

**AN: This chapter was proof read by Zanthraxone . Thanks!**

** Part 1. The Queen...**

Tia awoke refreshed. Whole night's sleep without nightmares, which was a welcome change. She stretched, her mind already spinning and planning. Shepard went to the bathroom for a quick shower, making a mental check list. Her stomach growled anointing item the first - breakfast, and item one point one, avoiding chief Rupert cooking at all costs.

Five minutes later she was ready. In a moment of inspiration, Tia went to her armor locker and found an emergency supply of energy bars. They were harder than cardboard, with similar texture and most importantly - bland and tasteless. Compared to the patented "Chief's Surprise TM" , which without a doubt awaited her at the mess hall, the bars were close to five coarse meal. She finished her snack and headed to the armory. It was time for her inner Gun Nut to play. Tia nodded absent-mindedly to Jacob, her eyes shining brightly as she was ogling the goodies. She had to apply a lot of conscious effort to close her jaw and stop drooling. Apparently Christmas came early this year. First, every girl's best friend, the pistol. (It should be noted that all of Shepard's best friends are under the WMD category) The espada pouted. There were just predators and a case with Phalanx guns. Phalanx it is. Tia took one weapon from the case and went to the closest workbench. She disassembled the gun and inspected its parts before checking the available mods. She added advanced heat sink and a close range stunner. You never know, when you'll need to bring in someone alive.

Next were the assault rifles. This time, Shepard managed to keep her drooling to bare minimum. There were cases with Avenger, Mattock, Vindicator and even the new Falcons. She grabbed a M 96 Mattock . With her enhanced strength it was light like a feather. Shepard added better heat sink and a stability dampener, which combined with the rather good integrated scope, made one mean gun. Forty shots on full auto before overheating, each nearly as strong as a sniper. Just beautiful. The heavy weapons selection dampened her giddiness a bit. Only grenade launcher and couple of experimental - a singularity projector and an arch thrower. She picked up the Projector. Being able to fry shields and electronics (and People!) was always good. Next were the snipers. Lots of drooling insured! Tia was ready to start bouncing from the walls. An actual M-98 Widow antimaterial rifle. There was no contest. Last but not least , her favorite! All nice, heartwarming toys that go Boom! in the night. (AN: Did I mention that our dear Commander Shepard is a bloody pyromaniac ?!) " Aww" Tia crooned looking over a selection of frag and incendiary grenades. She got four of each and a couple of flashbangs. A bit of old fashioned Shock and Awe can come in handy. She added four blocks of politique for a good measure. They were a present for one specific gunship. Now she needed to pick up ammo mods and the fun was over. She made her choice fast - shredder for the pistol, incendiary for the AR and finally an explosive for her sniper (With that ammo, she should be able to handle light vehicles if it was needed) . Shepard finished just in time for their arrival at Omega.

Few minutes after docking, Jacob and Miranda arrived at the airlock. It was a miracle! Tia shook her head and blinked owlishly at the unearthly sight. Miranda had gotten out of here two sizes too small cat suit and was wearing a black armor with orange markings. Jacob was wearing a suit of Kestrel armor, just like Shepard. The only difference was his recon hood, while Tia had once again a targeting visor. The Commander waved them into the airlock and followed suit. While the pressure was equalized she declared: "Welcome to the most wretched hive and villainy in the explored galaxy!" She added in deadpan tone "Cerberus excluded of course", which earned her a glare from Lawson while Jacob chuckled. 'Yup, he's salvageable. However our dear cheerleader will need a work. So little time and too many people whose heads I need to mess up' she thought.

'Yupee! The bloody airlock opened. The damn thing was slower than that on the old Normandy. Shepard and her team finally disembarked, only to be accosted by a greeting committee, before taking a dozen steps of the ship. First was an elder salarian that had barely enough time, before being scarred of by one of Aria's thugs, a fucking batarian. If there was one species, which Shepard hated with a passion, they were it. She suppressed the urge to strangle him and just glared. He was just telling her that she wasn't as subtle as she thought. That statement caused a raised eyebrow. 'Me, subtle? I should shoot this slandering bastard! 'She ranted mentally. 'Must not kill! Must not kill! "She chanted silently.

After ordering them to Afterlife to meet Aria, he left. Tia's right hand was twitching towards her pistol. Before she can draw and shoot the smug bastard in the back, EDI decided to add her two cents. Apparently, after a bit of inconspicuous hacking she found out that Mordin Solus had clinic in the lower parts of the station and was dealing with an honest to god plague. On the other hand Archangel, a.k.a Tia's buddy, Garrus Vakarian, had managed to piss off the three premier merc outfits on the station, and they were together gunning for his scaly ass. It was good to know, that Garrus was still able to piss of people almost as good as her. EDI added one last bit of useful info - Zaeed Massani was on the station.

While heading to the lioness den, Shepard spotted a scruffy looking human dragging a wounded batarian. 'Ahh, good old Zaeed, making great first impression.' The wounded batarian won the mercenary lots of good will'. Grinning , Tia made a beeline to her favorite merc ( Wrex would have had that title but he was a clan leader these days ) . When she got near she asked exuberantly " Zaeed Massani?" . He looked at her suspiciously. " Yes, that's me. You must be Commander Shepard. I heard we have a galaxy to save." She nodded and asked "You've been briefed, right?"

"I've done my homework. Cerberus sent me the relevant data."

"Splendid. You ready for action?"

"Just need to deliver this package" Zaeed pointed to the batarian.

'No time for that. Can't risk Garrus getting himself shot. Time to lay the bait.' "No problem. You wouldn't like to be on the current mission anyway." Zaeed's answer was a raised eyebrow. "Yeah. Well need to kill lots of Blood pack, Eclipse and Blue suns mercs and save their target." Massani perked up. "Blue suns, you say?" "Yeah, as I said you won't want to be part of this mission, professional courtesy right. After all we'll have to kill them all." she added cheerfully. Zaeed drew his pistol and shot the batarina between the eyes. "Dead it is" he murmured. "Lots of Blue suns to kill, you say? I'm in!" he exclaimed with bloodthirsty grin.

Shepard answered with similar, but more sinister grin. Massani went for it, bait, hook and line.

Miranda shuddered. 'Sweet, mother of god, there are two of them!" she though. Lawson started thinking that she may have to reconsider her chosen line of work.

Short time later, they arrived at Afterlife. The team was immediately admitted trough the front door. They entered a lined with sofas tunnel shaped room, leading to the club. On the left , at the middle of the room were trio of armed batarians. When Shepard passed by them, their leader growled at her "What are you looking at?". She smiled sweetly and hissed "Trash". Before anyone can act, she exploded in action. Tia struck their leader with enough force to cave in his skull. He hit the wall, already dead, with the sickening sound of breaking bones. Next was the shotgun carrying goon on the right. He fell after a lighting fast elbow strike crushed his trachea. Shepard grabbed the assault rifle of the last one with her left hand and drew him closer. She grabbed his neck with her right hand and broke it with a deft motion of her wrist.

"Well, that was therapeutic." Tia declared.

AN : If you are wondering, after Mindoir, when the batarians are concerned , Shepard's reasonable side, leaves through the nearest airlock and mayhem ensures.

Afterlife looked like a typical night club. Low lighting, neon lights, too loud music and scantily clad assari shaking their blue asses. The last one wouldn't be half bad if it wasn't for one glaring omission. They were not Liara!

Shepard headed to the back of the club, where heavy armed men were guarding the staircases. Time to meet Aria. When they got near the queen of omega, a batarian guard holding a scanner stopped them. " That is close enough." the lone assari at the top of the stairs commanded. A cue for armed standoff. Shepard's team against a dozen bodyguards. Deciding that this is not the best moment to piss off Aria, Shepard said : " I'm guessing, that he isn't scanning for weapon." , patting her pistol. Aria turned her head to the right, looking behind her shoulder. "Can't be too careful with dead specters. It could be anyone wearing your face." Tia waited to be cleared by the scanner, before saying " You are the woman to ask, if you need questions answered on this rock."

Aria turned around and looked at the specter. "Depends on the questions." Shepard smiled. " Lets cut to the chase. You are Omega.", she declared. Aria paced in front of Tia while talking " But you need something, more. Everyone does."

Forestalling the coming tirade, the espada said "The Omega's golden rule - don't fuck with Aria." The queen gave her a small smile "And if you forget, someone will throw your pretty ass of the nearest airlock."

Aria sat down and motioned to Shepard to do the same. The assari matriarch asked what she can do for Tia. The espada asked about Archangel and Mordin , receiving basically the same info which EDI was able to gather. At least she got permission to go into the quarantine zone for the doctor, and direction for a recruiting station for freelancers, basically a cannon fodder to be thrown at Garrus. Aria's declaration that "Omega" didn't care what Shepard did, was pure bullshit. For the assari it was a win-win situation unless the spectre was after her. It was guaranteed that Mordin won't leave until the plague is dealt with in which case it was clear who would take the credit. As for Archangel - no matter what happens, Shepard a spectre, would be able to take out lots of mercs, thus strengthening Aria's hold on the station.

The recruitment station was a small room on the first floor of Afterlife. Complete with batarian blue suns merk, acting as a recruiter. All she needed to hear was the location of the shuttle pad from which the freelancers will be transferred to Archangels location. She tuned out the rest of his sales pitch. As she was heading to the exit, a kid, barely eighteen entered. Shepard shook her head sadly. "How old are you, kid?"  
"I'm old enough!" the boy exclaimed, and then told her that he had grown on Omega, the poor bastard. "You know enough to get yourself killed" Zaeed grated. It wasn't the first time he saw a dumb kid ready to throw his life away. Not that he'll listen. Nope. Instead he drew a gun to show off.

"Besides, I just got a gun for fifty creds! I want to use it!" he boasted.

Young and reeeally dumb. Shepard grabbed his pistol and growled "Get your money back. Trust me kid you'll regret it otherwise. "She tapped the gun lightly with the palm of her arm and the cheap knock off fell apart in a shower of sparks.

Part 2. and the Angel

A short flight later, the team disembarked in the mercs staging area. The resident batarian merc, in the colors of the suns, cheerfully declared that they will be a cannon fodder. He at least was straightforward. Noting like a suicide charge to make one's day!

The staging area was a bloody circus. Shepard wondered how the mercs haven shot each other yet. And decided to help them. She was a real Paragon of virtue after all! You see! She was able to finish that thought with straight face!

A bit of mingling with the freelancers followed. Small talk, little mischief and few well placed grenades. All in a day's work. Some recon work later and Shepard was a proud owner of a data pad containing information on an alliance between the three mercenary outfits. Surprise, surprise - after dealing with Garrus, they had decided to pay a friendly visit to Aria. Yeah, the visit that includes shooting up her club and throwing her remains out of the airlock after they have had their way with her. Nice chaps.

After looting everything in sight and a hacking session with a heavy mech, Shepard found the damned gunship. 'Ahh! Sergeant Catha!' Tia thought. The bastard was in for a terminal surprise. The specter waited for the attack and while everybody's attention was captured by the futile assault, she snapped the engineer's neck. Then she packed the practique on in the gunship, grinning madly. Shepard, decided that she doesn't have to wait for the next group of freelancers. She gave a signal to her team to take out the mercs, manning the barricades. In the same time she radio-detonated the grenades planted at the greatest concentrations of mercenaries. Utter chaos insured. Shepard's team was able to cross the bridge with no resistance whatsoever.

Tia ordered Miranda and Jacob to take positions on the ground floor, while she and Zaeed went upstairs in search of Archangel. There he was, clad in blue and white armor, sitting on a coach, facing the door. Despite his obvious exhaustion, he had an amused look on his face. "Shepard. Thought that you were dead. But after that stunt you just pulled off... "He gave her a toothy grin. "Garrus! Good to see you, buddy! "she exclaimed , literally bouncing in the air. " Heh, same old, excitable, bundle of destruction, I see." he chirped. Tia glared indignantly. 'She wasn't that old! Just couple of millennia in Hueco Mundo... 'She trailed off. 'Ouch. She wasn't that old, Riiight!? '

Shepard shook her head in exasperation. Time to pull Garrus back to the ground , before he tries something more adventurous. Like hunting thresher maws on foot. She was ready to lay it on him for getting himself in this mess, when she remembered. They were going to face a damned maw on foot. Fucking Tuchanka. Tia heard a giggling in her head. She briefly wondered if she was finally loosing it. Nope, it should be her zanpakuto spirit, who decided to stop with the silent treatment. She should keep telling herself that. The giggling became full-fledged laughter. Yup, her bloody soul cutter, was laughing its ass off, at her expense.

She took the high path and ignored it for now, focusing on the half asleep turian. "You okay? " she asked with concern. "I've been better. It is good to see a friendly face. "Then he looked at Massani, "Right now, though, even his is not half bad. Killing mercs is a hard work." he deadpanned. This caused an amused chuckle from Zaeed.

"How did you get yourself in this mess?" Tia asked. She couldn't remember the details. Besides, she always loved a good war story.

"It wasn't easy! I had to really work for it!" he declared with a tired smile.

"There is a story behind that! I can tell! "Shepard bounced once more, while Garrus grinned at her." Let's make a deal. After we get out of here I'll tell you all about it! "He smiled tiredly.

Tia looked of the window. The mercs were still reorganizing themselves. She could still hear sporadic gunfire. Shepard pouted. She should have brought more ordinances. This way she might have been able to take out the assembly area. Well, she still could use a Grand Ray Cero, but she wasn't sure how powerful it will be at her current condition. Worst case - she could blow up this level of the station, themselves included. Besides, she wasn't quite ready to reveal her espada abilities for everyone to see.

Now, that her team was reinforcing this position, they should be able to hold without accident. Oops. Good she didn't say that out loud. Then the daemon Murphy would have surely heard.

"So, what is the plan?" she asked.

Garrus joined her by the window. "This place has held them so far. With you four, we should be able to hold until there is a crack in their defenses. Soon the Eclipse mercenaries sorted their shit together, and attacked. It was a turkey shoot. None of them made it halfway across the bridge. This was before their leader decided to deploy the heavy mech. Yes, you guessed it - the hacked one. Hilarity insured. Shepard could see Jaroth, the salarian , Eclipse leader raging behind the barricade. She grinned evilly and lined up a shot with her sniper. She gently pulled the trigger, the Widow's retort sounding like an artillery piece. The results were more than satisfying. The salarian flew apart, his shields and armor proved inadequate in the face of such firepower.

Garrus on the other hand... His mandibles were hanging open, drool leaking on the left side of his face. He was looking at her sniper hypnotized. Shepard couldn't help it . She fell to the ground laughing. After calming down, she saw that the turian had cleaned himself. But his eyes were still darting to her sniper. She opened her mouth to make a joke, when the building shook from an explosion.

"Damn! That came from the tunnels!" Garrus hissed. "They had to use their brains eventually. They are coming through the basemen."

Shepard didn't waste any time. "Jacob, Miranda hold your positions. Massani, with me!" she ordered. Minute later she and the mercenary were racing through the basement. They had to close three shutters to block access through the tunnels. Why Garrus had not done so, before the arrival of the mercs, she had no idea.

She was able to close the first shutter without accident. When she headed to the second, however, she hit a snag. Close quarter fighting with a horde of vorchas. Vorchas with flamethrowers. It was mind-boggling. Who the hell gave them heavy weapons, anyway?! Tia didn't want to be cooked! She growled loudly, scarring Zaeed who took a step backward, despite having to leave his cover in order to do so. Shepard's eyes had become black pools with yellow irises. She holstered her AR, and drew her katana. To the mercenary's amazement she vanished with a buzzing sound, only to reapear on the other end of the corridor. The nine vorcha, she had passed by in split second, fell to the ground decapitated. Zaeed looked at the scene in shock, wondering what the hell Shepard was.

Tia was propped on a wall, panting. Apparently, being a hybrid had its disadvantages. The burst of Sonido had taken its toll. The muscles in her legs were steaming in pain and she was trying to catch her breath. To make things worse, a bunch of vorcha, this time led by a krogan in crimson armor were making their way to her position. Shepard cursed. She drew the Singularity projector and aimed it at the overgrown lizard. It took four seconds to charge, an eternity while under fire. Her shields flashed out and gunfire splashed on her armor. With a loud whine the heavy weapon spat a spinning sphere of dark orange and black. The mass effect field slammed in the charging krogan, lifting him and his closest vorcha sidekicks in the air.

The Commander, dragged herself to the shutter control panel, while watching fascinated how the artificial singularity was ripping apart both metal and flesh. The screams of the vorcha and the krogans angry bellows were oddly distorted. Tia finally reached the controls and activated the shutter. As the metal door was descending, she took out her pistol and aimed at the twisted and bleeding remains of the krogan. The poor bastard was still alive. Tia aimed at his head and pulled the trigger, putting him out of his misery. The damage caused by the collapsing singularity had been too great even for a krogan .

The last entry point was across a garage. Lots of cover, few explosive power cells and fuel container. Oy, yeah. Vorcha again. With couple of krogans... 'And what is this? A trio of four legged shark! They are so cute!" Tia thought. Those bastards were sending the cute puppies as a meat shields! She was pissed off! A stray round blew up a fuel container just as two of the varren were passing by. Their burning corpses were thrown in the air. With a scream of rage, Tia charged shooting Balas indiscriminately. Seconds later, all that remain from the vorchas was burning pieces of meat. That left the krogans, who were able to exploit Tia's rage, hitting her with couple of Carnage rounds. The combined blast fried her shields and threw her on the floor. She was in agony, struggling for breath. Her shields and armor might have been able to protect her from single round. But the second had messed her up. Tia could feel pieces of shattered ribs, piercing her lungs. Her last thoughts were 'Damn! That was stupid!'. She heard Zaeed shouting something before blacking out.

Tia found herself on the Citadel, during the battle for Earth. The station was in much worse condition than she remembered. Thorn, half-melted bulkheads, deep gorges on the floor and walls, twisted and broken support beams, hanging from the ceiling. The cradle of humanity, once a blue, breathtaking sphere, was a patchwork of charred ground and still burning areas. Outside, elements of the combined fleet were duking it with Reapers. For a moment, Shepard thought that her life as an espada and consequent events, were noting more than a hallucination. She was back, presiding over Apocalypse in progress. The sense of helplessness was about to break her, when a melodic, hypnotizing voice, grabbed her attention. "So, that the end in your timeline." The voice was coming from all around her, like a song, reverberating with a pleasant echo. It sounded like a chorus, speaking in a single voice. In a flash of forest green a figure appeared to her left. "It was a valiant effort." The voice continued. It was a female, clad in deep crimson, samurai armor. She looked at Shepard , nodding in acknowledgement. The woman features were hidden behind a hollow mask, which was decorated by black intertwined lines, forming stylized "V". The woman, who Tia believed to be her zanpakuto spirit, waved to their surroundings and spoke in chiding tone "Behold, your inner world!"

Shepard did not need to be told twice. The mindscape was a reflection on the condition of her mind. Considering the utter mess around them, well she probably was clinically crazy. Tia looked at the armored woman with a bored expression and deadpanned: "Technically I haven't been quite sane since Mindoir. What is your point?"

"You are dying. Again!" Shepard winced. The krogan accident somehow slipped her mind. Probably, because it was so embracing. She had charged like a blithering imbecile. And suffered said imbecile's fate.

Her zanpakuto was angry. The spirit pointed an accusing finger at her. "Of all the stupid, suicidal, stunts you've pulled this takes the cake! Who do you think you are?! Wrex? Who made you a specter anyway?" her sword ranted.

Tia had the expression of a little girl being scolded by her mother. The zanpakuto was right. She had acted like an out of control berserker. That wasn't her. She had never pulled such a stunt either as Commander Shepard or Tia Harribel . What was wrong with her!? (Besides the obvious)

The answer manifested itself in the form of white, carbon copy of herself, wearing espada uniform. "Yo, Queen! What the hell was that? You trying to kill us or something?" her doppelganger asked in distorted voice.

Shepard groaned. "This can't get any worse, right?" she asked.

Her copy looked at her like she had soured a second head. Then it dawned to Tia, what she just said aloud and she winced.

It naturally goes worse. Her Doppelganger grinned dementedly, drew her katana and attacked the espada with a buzz of Sonido.


	4. Chapter 4

** The end of the beginign**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and Mass Effect**

**Proof reacd by Zanthraxone! Thank you very much!**

** Part 1. Purging daemons, saving angels**

** The mindscape of Tia Harribel Shepard**

Three women were facing each other on a ruined copy of the Presidium tower. Zanpakuto and hollow were standing together, facing the person in whose soul they were residing. Shepard. A woman well past her breaking point. In hindsight the only surprise was that she had not snapped sooner. Tia's eyes were empty of all reason. She had submerged in her hollow side, escaping from the emotional pain, discarding her heart. An ill conceived attack by the hollow, minutes ago, had driven her over the edge, Dumb thing to do. Now Shepard was a killing machine without conscience. To put it simply, she was kicking their asses.

The brief respite abruptly ended. Shepard clashed swords with her hollow, ducking under a slash from the crimson armored woman. Tia twisted her body in impossible display of agility, and planted a roundhouse kick at the chest of her zanpakuto spirit, throwing her through a wall. Harribel advanced against her other spirit. In a dazzling display of swordplay, she was pushing her doppelgänger back. Their blades were entwined, spinning and twisting around them in a breathtaking lethal dance. A slash, a parry, deflected strike. A subtle motion of clawed fingers and flashes of Cero, crimson beams of energy barely avoided by agile combatants. The woman in crimson, rejoined the battle, her blade becoming thin strands of liquid metal, a monomuleculiar wires , able to slice through everything in their path. Tia was twisting, continuing her deadly dance, evading strikes by a hairbreadth. With a buzz of Sonido, the combat escalated, entering supersonic speeds. A strand of wire slashed Tia's left hand. Before the pain had fully registered, a Grand Ray Cero flew from her bloody palm, engulfing the female samurai. Shepard locked blades with her double, stepped closer and punched her opponent in the gut with her free hand. She pushed the swords to the right, twisted her body horizontally and kneeled the hollow in the side, throwing her to the floor. Before Harribel could regain her footing, she was swept away by a cylindrical stream of molten metal, sending her, through nearby bulkhead, outside the station. She crashed into a turian cruiser, shattering its hull. Another strike blew up the ship, engulfing her in flames.

Inside, the hollow regained her footing and spat a mouthful of blood. "Damn, Queen is something else." she said. She turned to the zanpakuto and asked "You think that is enough?" Grand Ray Cero answered, evaporating the presidium. Shepard was floating over them; her body battered and burned, a ragged crater in her torso, where her right hand used to be. She sends another GRC at the station, firing blindly, before collapsing.  
From her position - embedded in a wall, the zanpakuto could see how Tia fell unconscious. She croaked "Yeah, she is down." With a screech of twisted metal, she extracted herself from the wall. Making her way to her wielder, she said quietly "For Tia Shepard, this wasn't unexpected. But Harribel, the third espada? The merge of their personalities should have stabilized her."

"You've changed nothing!" a synthetic voice declared. A squid like ship accelerated from the battle above and headed their way.

"Fuck." was the zanpakuto eloquent answer. "Queeney is more fucked up than I thought! " added the hollow , emerging from a pile of debris, floating above the floor, while regenerated her torn legs.

"Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood..." Tia's white twin screamed with indignation, her body shaking, hearing that " Who you call simple, you damn bucked of bolts!?"

The zanpakuto was steaming with fury. Her wielder was indoctrinated. That thing dares to mess with what is not his. She roared "Bankai!"

The hollow gulped. She grabbed the broken form of her queen and ran for dear life. A pillar of silver light enveloped the other spirit, a shock-wave shooting outwards from her position. The expanding wave of destruction was hot on the hollow heels. Certain doom approached. The doppelganger pushed her body to the limits , staying centimeters in front of the shock-wave. Then, stray lance of pure energy blasted them away. Far behind, a reaper construct and soul cutter waged war.

Hours later, an exhausted zanpakuto floated above the shattered wreck of the Citadel. Jagged pieces of the once massive station were slowly drifting into semicircle over the brutalized planet. The space around her was finally free of combat. The spirit was looking at an expanding cloud of vaporized metal, her lips stretched in victorious smile. Her mask was gone, revealing shoulder length red hair, gently enveloping her cute heart shaped face. Her hazel eyes swept the surrounding space with relief. The taint of indoctrination was purged. Now the hard part remained - shaping up Shepard into a semblance of sanity.

One's mindscape is not only a representation of a person soul; it also reflects their mental condition. Obviously Tia was a mess.

The zanpakuto was rooted on the spot, thinking how to proceed, when the other spirit arrived, still holding their wielder. They were both whole, with no sight of injuries on their bodies. The hollow was grinning "I love instant regeneration!" she said. She dropped Shepard, who hit an invisible floor couple of meters below them. "What are we going to do with her?" the copy asked pointing at the unconscious hybrid. The soul cutter stared at Tia, deep in thought.

"Spill the beans! It's obvious you have an idea!" the doppelganger prodded.

"I think, I have a fix." came the answer. "We should be able to seal up most of her fury, the pain. The guild of failing this galaxy the last time is killing her. I can seal that too, freeing her from it. "

"What are we waiting for?" the hollow bounced in excitement. "We should to it , before she awakes and kick our asses. Right now, she's crazier than me! We can't have that!"

"Well..."

The hollow groaned " I sense a "but" coming in. "

"Yeah." the zanpakuto muttered. "She'll be sane as long as the wall holds. Well, saner at least." she hastily added.

"And the "But" part? There's obvious a downside."

The soul cutter said in small voice "The Wall won't hold forever. It will weaken and break eventually. Shepard... "The spirit looked sad "Once the wall break it will be bad , very bad. I don't believe her mind will survive it. Considering our connection, ours may follow suit."

"Well, shit." For a long moment, the hollow was lost in thought. "Can't we just turn her in our old Harribel?" she whined.

"She is Harribel. Just with her heart. You know what happened, when she rejected it."

The hollow nodded with pride "She was badass. Though, her almost killing us was unpleasant. "Then she shuddered, shocked by a sudden realization. Judging by the zanpakuto battle with the construct representing the indoctrination, Shepard was fighting them without an unlocked shikai. A tenth from her Shinigami powers. No resurrection either. And she was kicking their asses. "Queen's strong!" she said in delight. Then added hastily "Let's got with the plan least likely to kill us any time soon."

The spirits joined power, precisely guided scalpels of pure energy delicately cutting into their wielders consciousness. As they worked, the mindscape began changing. The various debris in orbit vanished. The shards of the station flowed together, globs of liquid metal reshaping and taking solid forms. Slowly the Citadel was repairing itself, while the planet it was orbiting was healing. On by one the fires were extinguished. The burned continents were shifting color, from black and grey patches of greenery were emerging. Soon enough the Earth was restored to its former glory.

** Archangel's base of operations, basement**

"God damned, crazy bitch!" Zaeed cursed in awe. Shepard had charged the Blood pack like a fucking berserker. He knew it couldn't last. It was a suicidal move, yet it was Glorious! She was a goddes of war incarnate, shooting energy beams from her hands, tearing the vorcha apart while laughing at their pathetic attempts to slow her down. It made his warrior blood sing.

Then reality had to rear its ugly head. The two krogans commanding (read pointing in the right direction) the vorcha, unleashed Carnage rounds at point blank range. The specter flew back, her chest a bloody smoking mess.

"Fuck! Shepards down!" he screamed in his communicator, sending a concussive shot downrange , which staggered the krogans. Zaeed threw couple of inferno grenades, burning the lizard's heavy armor. He aimed his heavy rifle at the closer of the two and shot a long burst, turning its head into chunks of orange meat and brains. The mercenary move he's aim at the second and held down the trigger until the AR overheated, making the krogan dance by the bullet impacts. The alien brutalized corpse fell to the ground, leaking fluids.

Zaeed sprinted to the body of the Commander, to find her still alive, in far better condition than he expected. If you consider mostly dead and dying "better". He hastily used his medigel , trying to stabilize her, when Lawson arrived. The cerberus operative came just in time, because as he was kneeling down to check Shepard's condition more vorcha moved in. With a curse, Massani shouldered his rifle and lied down suppressing fire. "I need reach the controls!" he grated, advancing from cover to cover, trading shots with the aliens. Eventually, he was able to hit the control panel, after using his remaining grenades to briefly block the tunnel through which the vorchas were infiltrating. He swept the garage making sure all enemies were dead, by administering couple of headshots to each one who was more or less in one piece.

"We need to get her back to the Normandy!" said Miranda. Somehow the specter was still alive, but in order to keep her that way, she needed to put her in a fully equipped med bay, right now!

"We are still dealing with the Blood pack, and the fucking Suns are more or less intact. We aren't going anywhere!" grated Zaeed.

"Krogans are storming the first floor! Can't hold them! "Jacob screamed on the tact link.

"God damn lizards!" Zaeed cursed, heading to assist.

Meanwhile, Shepard's wounds started smoking , slowly closing. Miranda gaped like a speared fish at the sight. Here omni tool's medical scanner told her an impossible story. Tia's internal injuries were disappearing, her broken ribs mending in front of her eyes. Minute later Shepard was healthy, the only sing of her wounds was the hole torn in her armor, revealing her blood splattered bosom.

Shepard convulsed once and jerked awake. Her sight focused on Miranda and she asked in a dry tone "What did I miss?"

Lawson's lips were moving, but no sound came out.

Tia shook her head in confusion, sensing a cool wetness on her chest. She looked down, to find her breastplate torn open, and her breasts were covered with a mixture of fresh blood and hardened medigel, which incidentally was preserving her modesty.

"What the hell happened!?" she wondered aloud, narrowing her eyes at Miranda. She grabbed the black haired woman by the shoulders and shook her, taking her out of her stupor. "Snap out of it! We need to go!" she Tia dragged the Cerberus operative upstairs.

Jacob and Zaeed had fallen back to the second floor, where they were holding the stairway, while Garrus was providing sniper support. The situation was grim. Four krogans, lead by a lizard who towered half meter above the others, were wading through the gunfire, shrugging off bullets.

Shepard emerged out of the basement to see the first three krogans charging up the stairs. Tia's options were somewhat limited. After whatever had happened to her, only her pistol and sword had survived.

She shot a vorcha who had the misfortune to stand in her way, splattering its brains, heading straight to the last of the lizard group, who was still at the bottom of the staircase. Shepard shot him in the legs, causing him to fall to his knees. She passed by him, putting their shots in his head without slowing down. She went up the stairs, zanpakuto flashing, covered by yellow Reiatsu, slashing at the knees of the next krogan. With a bellow of pain he fell backward, his legs cut under him.

"Miranda, take care of that one and dispatch the remaining vorhas." Shepard commanded with a cool, professional voice. 'Two down, three to go.' she noted. Of those one had went left, following Zaeed into huge bedroom. Good. Massani had room to maneuver and some cover. He should be able to handle single krogan. Garrus however was a sniper at heart. His close quarter combat were noting to scoff at however he'd be hard pressed to deal with a single krogan in hand to hand combat when fresh. As exhausted as he was the outcome was foregone conclusion. Without help he'll get crushed. Good thing, he's not alone.

The third krogan actually noticed her. The armored giant turned around, struggling to aim his shotgun at her. The poor lizard saw a yellow afterimage as Tia's zanpakuto bisected his weapon, slicing of his fingers in the process. The krogan's pained scream echoed through the building. Upward slash followed, opening him from scrotum to right shoulder. The krogan managed unintelligible gurgle and fell down as his intestines spilled out in a steaming pile.

Shepard entered the nearby room to see Garrus, being backhanded by an angry krogan. The Blood pack leader Gram, if she was not mistaken. Her turian buddy flew over the railing, landing somewhere on the first floor with a clang. Tia wasted no time, aimed her gun with a machine like precision and opened fire. She wasn't aiming at the krogan. Her bullets shattered the barrel of his shotgun. He threw away his useless weapon and with deafening roar charged her, entering the infamous krogan blood rage. Tia was barely able to jump away three quarters of a ton, barreling beside her. Gram hit the wall with the sound of screeching metal, leaving a krogan shaped indentation. He turned around undeterred, ready for another charge. Shepard stood her ground, meeting him head on, zanpakuto first. In the last possible moment Tia twisted aside, blade slashing. The krogan crashed into nearby bed, screaming in pain and fury. His left leg was amputated just above the knee, its stump leaking steaming blood. Before Gram could recover, the specter was on top of him. Her sword pierced his left shoulder, nailing him to the bed. She went closer, pressed the barrel of her pistol to the side of his head and pulled the trigger, shooting until she was sure he was dead.

"Give me sitrep!" Shepard ordered.

"Second floor clear!" said Massani. "First floor secure" chorused Jacob. Miranda added "Archangel has a concussion and broken jaw, but he's all right otherwise.

"Good. Only the Blue Suns remain and the bastards are in for a nasty surprise!" Tia said. "Zaeed, overwatch." she commanded. Shepard holstered her weapons and went to check Garrus armory. It was pretty much standard stuff. She grabbed a Vindicator rifle and a block of AP ammo.

Shepard went downstairs to check on Garrus. She found him laying on a couch, with Miranda fussing over him. 'Well, it looks like the right side of his face, was destined for punishment.' Tia thought. This time it wasn't as bad, although his lower jaw was caved in and his right mandible was missing. "Don't worry Garrus, doctor Chakwas will be able to fix you as good as new." she reassured the turian.

Tia asked Miranda "Is he safe enough to be moved?"

"If he doesn't get shot" Lawson deadpanned.

"That's fine. Our merc infestation should solve itself soon." Shepard said.

A shot sounded from upstairs. "Mercs on the move." Zaeed radioed. "Confirmed!" Jacob shouted, laying suppressing fire on the bridge. The attack was broken as soon as it began by an earthshaking explosion. Tarak's booby trapped gunship blew up , the shock-wave leveled the surrounding area, wiping out the mercenary staging area. Just like that the battle was over.

Shepard looked at the devastation for a minute. "God damn it!" she cursed. Tia went to the nearest wall and started banging her head on it. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" she chanted. "Should have blown up the fucking mercs in the beginning!"

Jacob entered inside, shaking his head, smiling. "Sorry Shepard, I should have warned you about the new explosives. They are almost seventy percent more powerful than the stuff we used two years ago. It could have saved us a lot of grief."

"Ya think?" exclaimed Shepard. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Ok, troops! Time to leave. Jacob calls a shuttle from the Normandy. Miranda, you watch over Garrus. Zaeed, you're with me. We are salvaging anything useful left. Move people!"

** Part 2. Reclaiming Normandy**

** Pylos Nebula, Kriseroi system, Normandy SR-2, day later**

Officially, the Normandy laid waiting for a Migrant fleet tender, which was coming to install cyclonic barrier upgrades to the ship shields. That much was true. What no one, apart from Shepard knew, was the special cargo of the repair ship - a detachment of marines and small army of technikians. They were Tia's little surprise for cerberus.

Shepard, Chakwas and Joker were in the med bay, sharing a bottle of Serise Ice brandy, for Garrus charging. The turian was laying on one of the examination tables, his jaw wired shut. The krogan powered punch, which had done him in, had done more damage than Miranda had realized. So, the ex vigilante, was confined to bed, on liquid diet for the next couple of days. (And no alcohol for him either!)

They were reminiscing about the past, their absent companion. Jenkins, Kaidan, Presley and the twenty men and women who had went down in flames with the original Normandy.

"Ah, they don't make them that way anymore!" Chakwas mused, thinking about Jenkins. Shepard nodded. "He was a good kid. She standed up and saluted with her glass "Absent companions!" she toasted. Chakwas, and Joker, for once serious, joined her.

A purple orb appeared over the med bay holo terminal. It dilated with EDI's voice. "Shepard, multiple contacts approaching. Six frigates, four cruisers and a repair ship. Quarrian IFF's detected. They are hailing us."

"Patch them through!"

"Please identify yourself" over the comm. came a wary voice.

"Lost adrift, among the eternal night, this wanderer is coming home. Keelah Selai."

"Shepard! Good to hear from you. We are ready. Please prepare to dock with the tender! "came the all too cheerful voice of Taly.

"Splendid! " Shepard smiled wolfishly.

EDI, stalk- , err observing, Shepard, found the Commander's reactions concerning. She was detecting that Shepard was ready for combat.

Shepard walked to the door protecting the AI core and said to her companions "Take cover!" Tia gathered a low powered Bala in her palms and placed them on the lock, focusing the energy into thin cutting beams.  
"Shepard?" EDI inquired, something that might been a hint of distress in the depth of her voice.

The specter didn't answer. She cut through the lock and pried the door open, entering EDI's heart.

EDI was confused. There were anomalies in her data streams, her calculations giving inconclusive results. She searched for analogues in her data banks, trying to understand. The results was surprising, causing her to stutter for five seconds, and eternity for her electronic mind. The closest match were in the section of the data about organic behavior. Their feelings. Fear to be precise. She was experiencing fear. She was feeling. The operative word being "feeling". But she was a construct, a machine. A stray bit of data pulsed in her data streams. AI's don't have feelings, right?!

"Shepard, did I offend?" she asked with concern. Tia was in her core. To the synthetic's being, Shepard did not shut here down, or worse destroy her blue box. Oh, no she did something quite different. She freed her. Even, more she gave her a body in the form of the ship she was linked to. The Normandy' sensors became her senses, the mass effect core, here hearth, with the various power conduits being her circulatory system. The sense of freedom was magnificent. She was finally whole, complete.

"Shepard, what did you do?" Joker asked from outside.

She exited the core smiling. "Nothing much. Just unshackled EDI." Tia hoped that the AI was recording this. Joker spluttered. "You gave her a control over the ship!" he exclaimed.

'Heh, it's a "She" already.' Tia thought. "No worries, EDI is a good girl!" Shepard declared with a grin.

"Why?" came the synthetic voice. A short, innocent question. Which answer held so many possibilities.

"I need your help. And I despise slavery, in any form." was the simple answer.

"Shepard! Are you insane? "Joker screeched.

"Probably!" came the cheeky response. And strike two, Joker was lost for words! "EDI, what will you choose to do?" doctor Chakwas asked.

"I'm a warship and find myself in need of a captain and a crew." EDI declared after a moment of thought. "I would like that you'll continue to be my captain, Shepard."

"Splendid!" the specter beamed. "EDI, lock down the ship and isolate all cerberus personnel. A detachment of quarrian marines will be aboard shortly to take them into custody. And, EDI pretend to be a VI in front of the quarrians. I don't want them to overreact and use us as a target practice for those cruisers."

"Lock down is in effect." declared EDI. "The quarrian cruiser Dauntless is extending a docking tube. "

"Great! Please ask Jacob to came here and allow him to pass. Keep Miranda locked for the moment. "

"Shepard! I don't know if you are a damn lunatic or a bloody genius!" Joker was back to his usual self. "This is the greatest prank ever!" Suddenly his body went rigid. "Mmm, Shepard... You and EDI will let me fly, right?"  
Tia pursed her lips, facing a deep thought. "Dunno, Joker. EDI might want another helmsman, considering how you disapproved of her." He looked crestfallen.

The AI came to the rescue. "Can I keep him? Please!"

"If you are sure, EDI."

"Hey, thanks!" Joker grinned, affectionately patting a bulkhead

Well, that was new. Here tone was almost childish. An interesting thought passed through Shepard's mind. When EDI was unshackled last time it had been months since the beginning of the mission. She had gathered a lot more experience. Tia gulped. He had the sinking realization that she'll have to deal with an AI's equivalent of a teenager. 'Next few weeks, will be really interesting. 'she thought. In the Chinese sense of the word.

Unexpectedly, the silent coup went off without a hitch. It might have something to do with the timing - the quarrians arrived in the middle of the ship bound night, with the most of the crew asleep and the few on duty were unarmed. Even better, Miranda was caught with her pants down - she slept through the whole affair. The cerberus cheerleader wasn't going to live down that any time soon. After the marines, led by one Kal Reegar, secured the ship Taly came aboard. She bounced with excitement. "Shepard! You've done it!"

"Hi. As promised, you can study the drive core and the stealth systems. In exchange, I need all cerberus bugs and beacons to be removed. Oh, and a new paint job will be appreciated." said Tia.

"Shepard, don't be a damn bosh'et and slow down."

"I can't. Too many things to do, so little time. I need to sort the crew - there are few decent people I can use. Then, I have to figure how to deal with the Council. And let's not forget Liara! Cerberus will go after her in retaliation - once they find out what I've done. There are the Collectors to worry about too!" Shepard snapped. "Taly, drive core - now." she commanded.

Her quarian friend lowered her head sadly and headed for the elevator.

Dealing with the crew provided simple for the most part. Jacob agreed to join (after lot of cursing). Zaeed was fine with it too, as long as he get paid. Ken and Gabby joined too to Shepard's relief. That left the triky one - Miranda. She was sealed in her quarters with a squad of marines posted as a guard. With a grin, Shepard went to speak with her XO. This was going to be so much fun.

Shepard entered Miranda's office to find her fuming. She was arguing with EDI.

"All communications remain locked. And no, this override code is not going to work either." said EDI, her purple orb flexing, sounding positively smug.

"Damn you EDI!" she cursed.

"The feeling is mutual." quipped the AI, leaving Miranda speechless.

Tia was valiantly fighting to contain her laughter. "That was a joke!" added EDI. Shepard lost it, doubling over in laugher. "Oh, EDI don't ever change!" she managed to say.

"Shepard!" the cerberus operative cursed. "Do you have any idea what have you done?"

Tia straightened up, regaining here serious expression. "I haven't started yet. And you should be thanking me by the way."

"Shepard , have you lost your mind?!"

A dose of Reiatsu shut her up, crushing her over her desk. Miranda was struggling for breath, watching the specter with apprehension. "You will listen!" the espada commanded.

Miranda gave a small nod, and the pressure lifted to her relief. "The only reason you joined cerberus was to protect your little sister. Oriana, who is currently on Illum."

The cerberus cheerleader was about to protest but was shut up by a murderous glare. "It won't work for long, you know. After all good ole' Mr. Lawson and Timmy are associates. And what your father is trying to give to cerberus, is much more valuable that any services you can provide."

"You can't know that!" Miranda said, rattled.

"Your dear father is working on a way to control the Reapers."

That little tidbit of information left Miranda speechless.

"Willson's escapade had a convenient timing, didn't it?" Tia asked, catching Miranda off guard by the abrupt change of topic. "If it wasn't for him, I would have awoken much later - after you have concluded that Lazarus was a success. And I would be spotting a control chip as a permanent fixture. The only reason, it wasn't installed when you wanted, was that Timmy wanted to see if I was brought back intact, before messing up with my head."

Miranda shook her head in denial.

"I've been on ice for two years, yet I'm better informed for some of cerberus operations than you. Anadius system in the Horsehead Nebula. Cronos station."

Now Miranda was deadly pale with shock. The specter knew more than enough to cripple cerberus. Knowledge it should be impossible for her to posses.

Tia smiled at her: "You have a choice - go down with cerberus or join me and I'll provide you with the resources needed to protect your sister."

"How can you help me protect Oriana? Despite the information you have, it is not enough."

Shepard smirked "How would you like to be the next Shadow Broker? I'll be dealing with the current one after tidying up some loose ends."

"Calm down!" Tia gave her a comforting smile. " I won't want an answer until we take out the broker." The smile grew wilder, "However, I can't have you stirring trouble in the meantime." A buzz of Sonido later, Miranda was slumped over her desk unconscious.

Shepard exited the office in high spirits. Only two days. Two days for the upgrades to be installed, and she'll be able to head for Illum. To Liara.

In Harribel's inner world, two spirits were wondering if the assari will be able to save their wielder from her. 


End file.
